EU's Vestager to meet Italian finmin on Jan. 26 on bad bank loans

BRUSSELS Jan 22 (Reuters) - EU Competition Commissioner
Margrethe Vestager will meet the Italian finance minister on
Jan.26 in Brussels, a spokesman for the EU executive said on
Friday, as talks for a solution to Italian banks' bad loans
reach a critical point.

"Commissioner Vestager will meet Minister of Finance Pier
Carlo Padoan next Tuesday," the spokesman told a news
conference, replying to a question on whether a deal is possible
in the coming days after Italy proposed a new plan last week.

Rome and Brussels have been negotiating for more than a year
what to do with non-performing loans burdening Italian banks
since the 2009-2012 euro zone debt crisis.

A technical meeting between Italian and Commission
representatives is scheduled on Friday in Brussels, but has not
yet started, the spokesman said.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio)